But the Argossy was a different story. The cruiser knew the Argossy was coming but held steady, trying to get her cannons deep into the heart of the big Fed boat and ignite the level three fuel cells. Koba unloaded the rail guns and a big hole opened up in the black ship. The cruiser’s big guns shut down instantly.
“Again,” said Jolo. Koba hit the black boat with the rail guns once more, and the black ship spun off at an odd angle. Big chunks of debris floated around the scene: hull plating from the destroyed cruiser mixing in with the contents of Persephony’s lower bay that got sucked out into space.
There were four of the BG light fighters still buzzing around one of the dead gunboats on the other side of the Persephony. The gunboat showed gray on the scanner but it was still firing its turreted ion cannon. Jolo had Katy move the Argossy in close and the little boats scattered, leaving the dark gunboat with the wild ion cannon floating.
“Captain, we got one good heat sig on that gunboat,” said Katy.
“Somebody got into a suit in time,” said Jolo. “Bring us in close and we’ll give him a ride to the Persephony.”
Sure enough, a man in a Fed battle suit, standing on the hull of the dead gunboat with magna-boots, was waving his arms as the Argossy approached.
“How’d he work the cannon?” said Koba.
“Must’ve been working the controls manually from the base of the turret,” said Koba.
They got him into the air lock and Jolo ran down to talk to him. He’d been a pirate long enough to know not to let anyone in without a conversation.
“Nice work with the turret,” said Jolo through the comm to the man in the blue suit.
“Hard to aim with the manual controls. Let me in, Jolo,” came the reply.
“Who is this?”
“Kray,” said the man.
“Naw. Kray’s up in the big ship where it’s safe.” Jolo knew Kray wasn’t scared of anything and if it was really Kray he was gonna be pissed.
“Let me in, Pirate!” yelled the man. “I’m not afraid to die in the defense of the Federation.”
“Yes, but would it be wise to die for nothing, Kray? To kill others for nothing.”
“I saw the vid you posted, as did most of the ship.”
“You gonna rethink things?”
“If you mean, am I gonna turn tail and run, then your answer is absolutely not.”
“What will you fight with? Your gunboats were destroyed or have deserted.”
“I have transports that can be retrofitted. Enough parts floating around the Persephony to equip a few ships. We’ll make do.” There was a pause. “And I’ve got the Argossy.”
“No you don’t. I’m leaving.”
“Like that turncoat, Trant? Will you run with him? Like Pirates?”
“No. Not like him.”
“He was a coward. I didn’t think Jolo Vargas was a coward.”
Jolo had heard enough.
“How much air you got in your suit?”
“About 30 minutes or so…” and then Kray stopped talking. The air pressure was just about to the point where Kray could take off his helmet. Jolo reached for the big red button that would open the outer doors.
Kray started yelling. “Let me in, Vargas! Don’t you do it. You frakking Pirate!”
Jolo hit the big button and the outer door released and Kray flew backwards out into space.
“Get us out of here, Katy,” Jolo said through the comm.
“Where we headed?” Jolo took a deep breath. He couldn’t run with a Fed idiot, or a man who would leave other men behind. Trant was right in a way, but Jolo didn’t fully trust him. He’d always just trusted his own instincts and the people on his boat. Why should it be different now?
“If y’all are willing: Earth.”
Heat
The dead planet: Earth
Jolo stamped his boot on the cold, hard ice. There was no satisfying crunch like a frosty meadow on one of the core planets in early spring. No, this was like the metal deck of a gunboat. The sky was brown, but steadily becoming a dirty orange. Jolo guessed it was mid-morning. There were no trees, no green, no sign of human habitation, just gray hardpack as far as the eye could see.
It was a miracle the Argossy had made it to ground with so little damage, a testament to Katy’s skills. The hyper-gravity pull that sucked them in was more powerful than anything Jolo had ever experienced. And when his old boat finally came to a rest at an angle on her side, there were no cheers, just relief and silence. They were open and alone and had just been spared. Death, for a moment, had passed them all by. But after a few minutes, when everyone’s breathing had steadied, Jolo got the crew to work.
Koba had warned against breathing the outside air even though the tox scan was mostly clear, but Greeley couldn’t resist and snuck out the rear hatch before Jolo could stop him. Everyone watched him from the main screen on the bridge. He ran out onto the ice and took a deep breath of air. Suddenly his hands went to his throat and he fell to the ground. Katy screamed and Koba scrambled around under his console for an air mask. Greeley lay on the cold Earth and twitched like he’d been shot by a Fed blaster. “Go save him!” said Katy.
But Jolo shook his head. “Wait,” he said.
Sure enough, a few seconds later Greeley jumped up with a grin on his face and did a little dance. Barth and George were next out to inspect the damage to the hull and landing pads. Katy went out to hit Greeley, and Koba followed, wearing the air mask just in case. Jolo was the last one out. Hurley stayed on the ship down in engineering.
Jolo stared out into the gray cold mist. Crash landing on Earth was expected. The force that pulled them in from beyond was stronger than Jolo had anticipated, but that still hadn’t tested his resolve. This is what they had to do. But this, the frozen ground and ice as far as he could see, this was something else.
Jolo ran his hand along the hull of the Argossy. They’d lost power right before touch down and hit the ground hard, one of her landing pads shearing off. So now she sat on her side half buried in the ice, everything inside at a 35% angle. There was an ugly gash where the cowling on the port side had been ripped off when they’d had to bump the cruiser coming out of the Persephony. The rail gun was exposed, black burn marks on the end of the barrel and black on the hull next to it. But other than that, the old ship was in surprisingly good shape.
“Fuel is an issue,” said Barthelme, every exhale like a white puff of smoke.
“We knew that,” said Jolo. “We’ll have to find another source to get off planet.”
“That ain’t what I mean.”
Jolo smiled at the old engineer. “What are you worried about?”
“Heat, mainly.” Jolo’s smile faded and Barth continued. “We got half a cell left even after sneaking off the Persephony with double our normal capacity.”
“Worst case?”
“Well, George is still working on the numbers, but he figures we got about 12 days until we are all popsicles.”
Greeley walked up sucking on a long piece of ice. “Somebody say popsicle?” He grinned, put his hand on Jolo’s shoulder. “What y’all frettin’ about? We’re here. We’re still alive.” Jolo and Barth couldn’t help but smile, too. Greeley’s face was still scarred and red, but he was back to his old self again. Ready for anything.
“We need fuel for heat,” said Jolo.
“Well, shite on that. Let’s go git some,” he said. “Barring any success on that venture, I propose we freeze-dry fat boy here and use him as fuel.” Greeley rubbed Barth’s shoulders. “Yeah, plenty of good fuel right here.”
Just then Katy’s voice came over the comm. “Greeley, don’t eat the ice. It hasn’t been tested yet.”
Greeley took another long lick and then bit off the end for good measure. “Tastes fine to me,” he said.
“You think you and George can get the Argossy upright again?” Jolo said to Barth.
“Sure,” Barth said. “But I’d rather be out hunting for a fuel source.”<
br />
“Naw. Greeley and I will go.”
Greeley’s eyes lit up. “Field trip!” He ran off to get his gear.
“Pack light!” Jolo yelled after him. “Two days of fed green and all the warm weather gear you got. And don’t get too excited, we ain’t leavin’ just yet.”
Barth and George righted the ship by removing the other landing pad. The rear pad had conveniently sunk deeper in to the ice so the ship was almost on level ground. Jolo had George scan the surface and it appeared solid enough. Below them was about three meters of ice and beneath that shale, rock and lime.
Katy eyed the scan and frowned.
“What’s the matter?”
“Two things. One, I can’t scan much more than a hundred meters in any direction. We’re on solid ground here but I don’t know what’s out there. They both stared at the main screen into the gray mist. And there’s also some sort of odd biological deposits here,” she said, pointing at the screen, “here, and here.” Jolo couldn’t make much out of it, just two slightly darker sections.
“Hmmm. Will it burn?” said Jolo.
“Good idea.”
“Okay, while Greeley and I are checking things out topside, see if you can get a sample of the bio stuff. If we can burn it or eat it, that’d be huge.”
“Captain, I suggest you wait until morning before departing. It’s getting colder by the minute,” said George.
“Do we have a solid idea about what time it is and where we are on the planet?” said Jolo.
“Given our entry point and trajectory, and factoring in the random nature of the hyper—gravity vacuum on the way down, I’d say we did pretty well. We are only about eighteen kilometers from our intended target point: 33.247876 degrees latitude and -83.441163 degrees longitude,” said George. “North America, in a sector of land formerly referred to as, uh…” He smiled and looked up at Jolo. “They called this place Georgia.”
“Nice.”
“I’d say it’s about one hour until dark.”
Jolo plugged the numbers into his internal computer. The remote wrist comm fed the data to his processor and he generated a simple map with two points: home and destination.
“You aren’t going for the target tomorrow, are you?” said Katy.
“No, I’m just going to get a lay of the land.” He didn’t mention the fuel issue.
That night Jolo shared his quarters with Katy, Barth and Greeley. George, Koba and Hurley stayed in Koba’s quarters. Heating just two sections of the ship would save fuel. It was Koba’s idea but by the grumbling down the hall Jolo wondered how long this arrangement would last.
Katy and Jolo shared a bunk, her head resting on his chest.
“That’s against Fed regs,” said Barth.
“We’re just doing our part to conserve energy and keep warm,” said Katy. “You and Greeley should snuggle.”
“Come on, Big Boy,” said Greeley, laying on a makeshift bunk.
“What’s the status, Barth?” said Jolo.
“Maybe we should talk later?” Barth nodded towards Katy, nearly asleep with her eyes closed.
“Tell me,” Jolo said.
“Well, there’s the fuel thing.”
“Yeah, an’ we’re gone fix that tomorrow,” said Greeley.
“Keep it down over there and let the adults talk,” said Jolo. “Ok, let’s assume we figure out the heat issue, from what you’ve seen so far, you think we’ll be able to find another fuel cell on a dead ship?”
“What heat issue?” said Katy, sitting up a little.
“We all gone die soon on account of the cold,” said Greeley.
“No we’re not,” said Jolo. “So you think we can find another cell?”
“I hope so,” said Barth. “And that’s still our best option. Too many boats get sucked down. There’s got to be some cells somewhere.”
“Ok. Then we are good to go for tomorrow.” Jolo started to close his eyes.
“One more thing,” said Barth.
And Jolo could tell by the sound of his voice he wasn’t going to like it.
“Remember when we lost power right before crash landing?”
“You mean the controlled high-speed descent?” said Katy.
“Yeah, that,” said Barth. “Well, Hurley’s been down in engineering going over the engines, the logic boards, the fuel cell connections and…”
“And what?” Jolo said.
“Well, he can’t get the Argossy’s engines to wind up.”
“The engines won’t spin up?” said Katy, gripping Jolo’s arm so tight he could feel her nails clawing into him.
“No. But everything else looks fine,” Barth said, trying to soften the blow. “He just can’t get them to turn over.”
Jolo let out a deep breath of air. “Ok. I want you, Hurley and George to get on that first thing tomorrow. Katy, you and Koba work on the bio shite.”
“What’s bio shite?” said Greeley.
“It’s what we’re gonna eat when the Fed green runs out,” said Katy. “If we ain’t froze to death first.”
“No heat. No fuel. Engines don’t work. Sounds like a typical farked up situation,” said Greeley, his eyes closed and face calm.
Jolo let out a sigh.
Katy put her hand on Jolo’s chest and looked him in the eye. “Other people came here out of greed or stupidity. We came because we’re trying to save the Federation.”
“You’re right,” said Jolo, wishing he and Katy were alone. “We’ll make it.” He pulled her close. “We always do.”
Ice
Two hundred meters out onto the hard pack and Jolo couldn’t see the Argossy anymore. He and Greeley trudged along, flat, gray cold all around as far as the eye could see. The only thing pinning them to home was the little comm unit and the readout on Jolo’s internal computer. The Argossy was a small green triangle and he and Greely a tiny blue blip slowly moving in a southerly direction. Koba and George figured they had a good ten kilometer range.
That morning, Jolo and the crew had eaten a spartan breakfast of fed green and a few hundreds mils each of the good remaining water. “Take the battle suits to keep you warm,” Katy had said. They had four Fed issue suits fully charged.
“No can do,” said Jolo. “Might need them later. If it gets too cold then we’ll come back.” But now, trudging over the ice, wearing every bit of clothing he had and even Barth’s extra large Fed issue winter coat he never wore, Jolo still felt the chill air creeping in. He wished he had Merthon’s special suit he used when he rescued Barth on the ice harvester. But that, along with almost everything they all owned, had burned up with Duval. He could hear Katy’s voice in his head right then: “But we’ve got each other.” She was right.
Greeley had started out jovial and confident. But had started to grow silent with each passing kilometer. Soon he was grumbling about having to leave the hover bike behind to make room for the extra fuel cells. Jolo reminded him they’d be stranded out in space with no fuel if they’d have kept the bike.
Jolo scanned the horizon sure he’d spot something: a tree, a downed ship, or even a bit of earth not covered in ice. But his handheld scanner continued to show nothing underneath them or around them. Just ice and rock. In some sections the ice was deep beneath them and Jolo would go on ahead first, but it was always solid. By midday, just before the sky started to turn orange, Jolo knew it was time to turn back. The computer calculated they were 13.4 kilometers from the Argossy and the comm unit signal was getting weaker with each step they took.
Greeley’s face was grim and determined. Betsy hung from its strap on his back, and out there in the cold it seemed utterly useless. There was nothing to see, nothing to burn, nothing to eat. Nothing to shoot.
Greeley sat down on the ice and took a sip of water, his eyes still glued to the horizon line. Jolo sat down, too. They’d been going for 3 hours 42 minutes and a few minutes rest would be good before they turned back for home. Jolo bit off a piece of dry brown protein bar and handed the
rest to Greeley. They both chewed slowly, their jaw muscles cold and numb. Jolo stared out into the gray and saw nothing. And with each minute that passed, his eyes watery and his limbs frozen, he started to think maybe Trant was right. No one returns from Earth. Who was he to think he was any different?
A few more minutes and then we turn for home he thought. He could go farther than Greeley, and if he was hurting, the big man must be really in pain. But if he was he didn’t show it.
Suddenly Greeley stood up, pointing out into the distance. “Glint!” he yelled.
“Huh?”
“GLINT! Eleven o’clock!” Greeley was smiling again, suddenly energized.
Jolo stood, staring through the binoculars into the southern horizon. They both scanned in the direction Greeley was pointing to. But nothing.
Greeley stumbled forward, and fell into the ice. “I seen it, Cap’n. A glint!” A little less energized than before. “I seen it, Cap’n.”
“Well. It ain’t there now and we got to go back or we’ll die in the cold.”
“We’ll die if’n we don’t find something to eat or burn.” He paused a moment, and licked his dry, wind-burned lips. “Or burn then eat. But right now after seeing nothin’ for going on half a day I’ll take the glint.” He grabbed his pack, slung it over his back. “I’m headin’ thataway.” He pointed roughly towards their eleven o’clock.
Jolo watched the big man stomp off into the nothingness. He wanted to believe Greeley had seen something, but didn’t want to die for nothing. Greeley started to get smaller. Jolo wasn’t going to force him back, didn’t think he had the strength right then.
“Come on, Greeley,” Jolo yelled. “Git your ass back here!”
Greeley stopped and turned around. “I ain’t goin’ back no more,” he yelled. “Not after my brother died. Not after Duval. Not after living on that rat-infested Fed boat. I’m disobeyin’ orders so you got full rights to shoot me. So you do what you gotta do. Just make sure its a good kill shot so I don’t have to linger on the doorstep too long.” Greeley started walking again.
The Jolo Vargas Space Opera Series Box Set Page 45
